First Rob and Guy Pearce Still from 'The Rover'

Australia was founded as a repository for crooks and criminals — a wretched hive of scum and villainy, like the British Empire’s own Mos Eisley. Of course, that was a long time ago and the Australian national demeanor has since shifted from “kill or be killed” to “live and let live,” but David Michôd’s gritty 2010 drama Animal Kingdom chronicled some of the country’s more modern criminal descendents. In his upcoming sophomore effort, The Rover, the director takes things even further.

Robert Pattinson plays a denizen of the Outback in the near future, after a worldwide financial collapse has sent many like him running to the still viable mines of the Australian desert. “It’s like a new gold rush,” says Michôd. “Where people from all corners of the world have come out to the desert to scrape out an existence. Petty criminals and miscreants and hustlers.” Guy Pearce, who had an uncharacteristically reserved role in Animal Kingdom, gets to sink his teeth into a nicely nasty part opposite Pattinson. “The basic story is really quite elemental,” says Michôd. “You’ve got a really dark, dangerous, murderous person in Guy’s character, and in Rob’s character you have a quite troubled and damaged, but beautiful and naïve, soul.”

Of course, just by its setting and basic plot, The Rover is poised to draw comparisons to one of the antipodean country’s most memorable cinematic contributions. “You put cars in the desert in Australia and people are going to think of Mad Max,” says Michôd. “And with all due respect to that film — and I stress that — I think The Rover is going to be way more chillingly authentic and menacing.”

Great Reviews from the web about the new still

CinemaBlend: The Twilight series made Robert Pattinson a star, but also put the 26-year-old actor into a deep dreamboat hole that can threaten the longevity of an actor's career. So, taking a page from the smart pretty boys who came before him (Brad Pitt, Jude Law and Leonardo DiCaprio come to mind), he followed up his heartthrob role with something deeply indie, and niche-shatteringly deranged. David Cronenberg's Cosmopolis forced critics worn out by Twilight to reconsider Pattinson as he played a smarmy billionaire so numb he turns to self-destruction for salvation. And now, he's gearing up for a different version of grittiness in David Michôd's The Rover.

TheFilmStage: After proving his acting chops in last year’s twisted, overlooked David Cronenberg-directed drama Cosmopolis, Robert Pattinson is returning in 2013 with another highly-anticipated project,

ThePlaylist: We gotta admit, we sort of forgot this one was happening, but we have to say, we're glad it is...no word yet on a release date, but we'd wager 2014. Either way, we'll be looking forward to it.

RopeOfSilicon: Pearce Points Pistol at Pattinson in New Picture..."giving you a look at just how down in the dirt this pic is going to get."

Flix66: Obviously Robert Pattinson has annoyed a very dirty and hairy looking Guy Pearce in this photo, so it’ll be interesting to see how all of that plays out when this movie hits theaters.

FirstShowing: If seeing Robert Pattinson step outside his sparkly vampire self from The Twilight Saga for more serious dramas like Water for Elephants and Cosmopolis just didn't sit right with you, then we have a new film that might work.

MovieFone: Robert Pattinson's latest bid to shed his "Twilight" reputation is the dystopian drama "The Rover," and as you can see below, he's taking quite a beating from Guy Pearce to prove he's no longer Edward Cullen.

CinemaTeaser: Awesome first pic for David Michôd's THE ROVER with Guy Pearce and Robert Pattinson

MovieHole: First still of Robert Pattinson and Guy Pearce in David Michod's "The Rover". Script is apparently ace!

Collider: Michod promises that The Rover is going to be “way more chillingly authentic and menacing” than those films. That’s some strong talk, but considering how great Animal Kingdom is, I’m inclined to take Michod’s word for it.

Wow!! This is going to be an excellent film, i can't wait for it to come out, hopefully later this year.Rob has made really good choices with his work and i don't doubt that he has done so again.Could someone please tell that nasty man to get that gun out of Rob's face!! ( just joking, ) lol

I agree Siok, Bel Ami was just too much sex, and while I watched Cosmopolis because his acting was amazing, the sex scenes weren't really my cup of tea. The same with Kristen, I couldn't watch On The Road for that reason, I'm really hoping there's less in both their upcoming roles. But I am an adult, and I do think a tasteful love scene can be great in a movie, much like in Water for Ele and BD. But I suppose that's the difference between R rating and PG13, and to be honest, the R rated movies are often better(except for the sex scenes) LOL

I partly agree with you. Though I think some sex scenes are necessary, I think HW tends to push it over the edge. For instance, OTR, I also had a hard time seeing Kristen in that because they were much too raunchy for me. It seemed to exploit a young girls sexual prowess and inhibitions. IMO, scenes can still convey lust and chemistry without showing so much explicit sex. Case in point, the first Twilight kiss. There was so much charged sexual energy in that scene than any of the sex scenes in Cosmopolis and OTR. Or maybe I'm just biased? lol

i agree with you. .i always read interview ks about OTR because i want to undersand her point of view about mallory..i want to know why she adore her character very much and want to her have "spirit" like her. but after all her interview, i stil don't get it.too much wild sex, too much wild free life style for young girl..and her comment about more hard doing dance than topless,,What!!! maybe OTR it's not my movie,,for some people i read OTR is good .movie

yes, i too tried to understand Kristen's point of view of her MaryLou character. I can see admiring someone with such a free spirit who loves someone deeply but to not respect or consider relationship boundaries bothered me. and yes the comment about dancing being more difficult than being topless was rather shocking. but perhaps she's had to desensitize herself from the sex scenes in order to play them more realistically. honestly, i just wish Kristen could have been a little older in age when doing these scenes. it bothers me that she was so young and so taken by such a carefree point of view of intimacy and sex. i guess that's the influence of growing up in the entertainment industry. i just think it "matures" a girl too soon and loses the innocence of youth. there's plenty of time to grow up but you only have your youth once.

Woooo-hoooo!!! This looks sooooo goooooood!!!! More, more, more! Please! I'm so excited to see Rob in this role. It's so differenct from all the others he's played and love that the script is not centered around a romance. Dint get me wrong, I love seeing sexy and romantic Rob too but seeing a more diverse role is equally, if not more, exciting.

Oooooo! I wanna see how Rob's character reacts to the gun in his face. I bet it's explosive cause we've seen Rob play angryRob in Bel Ami and it was great. This scene looks like Rob is getting ready to fight back.